Harmful natural sugar substitute

Visiting grocery stores, people are faced with whole departments of food fructose, positioned as a healthy diet, nutrition for diabetics and those trying to lose weight. So a plausible statements about fructose as a useful alternative to sugar and what other natural sweeteners are there?

The types of sweeteners

Harmful sweetener for a healthy person? So fashionable lately, the usual sugar substitutes are full of advertising about your safety and the positive impact on the figure. Although many alternatives to sugar was originally meant for overweight people and diabetes, today to all sorts of substitutes resorted all those who follow the figure.

Splenda is an alternative sugar for artificial or natural basis used for the sweetener, which is achieved by using substances or chemical compounds.

And if with natural ingredients all clear – they rarely doubt more or less familiar to everyone, synthetically derived sweeteners cause issues.

Thus, it is possible to distinguish two main groups of sweeteners – natural and artificial, of which the first is the traditional honey, molasses, fructose, and xylitol, sorbitol and stevia.

Artificial sweeteners are marketed as low-calorie dietary product. There are many artificial sweeteners, some of which is already banned in most countries because of the extreme toxicity, for example, lead acetate.

However, some artificial podslastiteli can be a real salvation for people with diabetes, so their production is relevant today. The most popular synthetic sugar substitutes are aspartame, saccharin, Sucralose, and cyclamate. About them will be discussed in this article.

Natural sweeteners

A natural sweetener can be a great alternative to sugar, but with one but. All necessary measure, and if you use, for example, fructose in large quantities, it will do more harm than good.

Fructose

After active use of fructose in the United States, where it was added in place of sugar in sweet pies, soft drinks and many other dishes, the researchers came to the conclusion that it could be one of the causes of mass obesity to the nation because of the very slow absorption of this sweetener. The cause of excess weight could also be an effect of chronic overeating, also triggered by fructose. The fact that this sweetener, as well as some other natural sugar substitutes provoke in the nervous system of communication, is inadequate to evaluate the calorie content of simple carbohydrates.

In limited quantities, fructose is really useful, as not conducive to the development of insulin in the blood, and that made the product popular among diabetics and people with excess body weight. But on the other hand, if you eat it in large quantities, and not as nature intended – in small quantities it is contained in fruits and sweet vegetables, which makes them extremely useful for food – fructose has the opposite effect. Subjected to slow the metabolism through liver, excess fructose in the body may likewise lead to increased insulin, which will be forced to break it down to glucose. And in case of fail to cope with glucose because blocking of insulin because of diabetes the blood sugar level rises sharply. Excessive glucose produced in the body from fructose, it is perceived as an alternate source of energy and goes to fat cells.

Stevia

Separately to say about stevia. In connection with the growing needs and niskasaari low-carb diet has increased the interest in this herb as a sweetener. Being harmless to the body, stevia has become a great solution as a dietary sweetener that will not affect the level of glucose in the blood and therefore suitable for diabetics. Stevia is also very low in calories – one hundred grams of the synthesized powder is sweet on its basis contains only 18 calories.

This sakharozameniteli deemed safe by the world health organization in 2006. The who in its report said that the product may have a therapeutic effect on such diseases as hypertension and diabetes.

The benefits of regular use of stevia:

• removing harmful cholesterol from the blood vessels, normalizing blood circulation, excretion of toxins;
• normalization of high blood pressure;
• anti-inflammatory effect, activation of protective forces of an organism, immunization of the respiratory tract, stabilization of the gastrointestinal tract, the liver;
• reducing sugar content in the blood;
• antimicrobial, antiparasitic and antifungal effects;
• strengthens the immune system, contains amino acids and vitamins that supply the body with energy.

Other types of sweeteners from natural should also be used sparingly, lest they cause side effects such as allergies and excess body weight. This also includes polyhydric alcohols – xylitol and sorbitol. The first is extracted from corn, the second of Rowan. This is the analogue of sugar as a natural sweetener, can actually be helpful for a healthyof the body and benefit people with diabetes, but should be remembered for his restrained consumption.

Artificial sweeteners

Unlike natural sweeteners, synthetic sweeteners do not participate in metabolism. These chemical compounds differ in the intensity of sweet taste, which is several times higher than sugar, and no calories.

The total lack of calories make synthetic sweeteners to the attention of the audience that are watching their figure, but in the pursuit of a slender waist is easy to lose more valuable things – such as health. Because artificial sweeteners are poorly known product with the presence in its composition of various carcinogens and harmful substances.

Saccharin

The sweetener saccharin is sweeter than sugar 300 times. Despite the fact that this drug can be a source of carcinogens, it is actively added to sweet items because of cheapness. As part of the mix for sweetening confectionery and beverages, saccharin forms a dangerous combination with sugar, as it triggers the development of hyperglycemia.

Hyperglycemia is a clinical symptom, which increases the sugar level in the blood. The attack marks a predisposition to diabetes or the onset of disease.

Saccharin is not absorbed by the body, and its effect on the organism can be pathogenic if the amount eaten of the sweetener is greater than 5 mg per 1 kg of body weight.

However, this drug is approved by the who, which said that the possible influence of saccharin on the development of cancer is not proven.

Saccharin is used in the diet of diabetics, as this product does not affect the production of insulin.

Aspartame

A safer sweetener aspartame contains, however, composed of a substance that the body forms the poison methanol. Although the number of harmful substances is minimal, this sweetener is not recommended in large quantities to take pregnant women and children. The product is allowed by the who and classified as safe. Changes its properties when heated, which makes its use dangerous to health at high temperatures. The sweetness of aspartame exceeds sugar 200 times. The product is contraindicated suffering from phenylketonuria. According to European standards, set a daily maximum for this matter in the amount of 40 mg/kg of body weight.

Cyclamate

Cyclamate sodium is a toxic drug, it is prohibited for children and pregnant women, it can not be used for people suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and kidneys. Surpassing the sweetness of sugar just 30 times, high dose of cyclamate in the body can adversely affect health. Long-term use of the drug in large quantities, can provoke cancer.

Sucralose

This is a modified carbohydrate is 600 times sweeter than sugar. If you choose an artificial sweetener, you should closely take a closer look at the Sucralose. Being a product derived from sugar, this substance is almost completely safe for healthy people and for people with diabetes of both types. The safety is due to the fact that it does not lose its properties when heated, almost not digested and does not affect insulin production. As artificial compound Sucralose is absorbed only 15%, and all undigested leaves the body in a natural way. Sucralose is not absorbed passes the placental barrier, gets in the brain and is not able to penetrate into breast milk. Excreted from the body within 24 hours. However, due to the fact that this product is new and recently found, there is no sufficient evidence about its safety, immune and reproductive functions and other delayed effects.

Calorie-free, podslastitel now is a very popular product, being hundreds of times sweeter than sugar, it needs a minimum number to enjoy a pleasant sweetness without harm to the figures. However, be aware of the reverse side of the coin, any chemical compounds, not provided by nature are human inventions and, in fact, unpredictable in the remote forecast. Of the known negative effects of artificial sweeteners is provoking cancer, gastrointestinal disorders, kidney problems and other side effects.

Slightly better is the case with natural sweeteners – as a natural product they contain many useful minerals and vitamins that helps to maintain the body healthy. Minimal effect on insulin release makes their use possible among people with diabetes. However, again due to the fact that substances such as fructose, sorbitol or xylitol, found in nature in minimal percentage, their frequent consumption in large quantities may also have a negative impact on health. The Golden rule of "just good enough" is important here.

So the question is more harmful than sugar or Splenda let each one answer for himself, as the answer depends entirely on the diet of the individual and his needs in a daily dose of pure glucose, so necessary for the health of cells.